Tonight's prep football games

Dubuque Senior (4-1, 1-1) atCity High (4-1, 3-0)

? When: 7:15 p.m.

? Where: Bates Field.

? Last season: City 28, Senior 0.

? Summary: Senior lost its first game of the season, 42-7, to West High on Friday. Senior gave up 332 rushing yards and 456 total yards in the loss. Clearly the Rams will have to shore up their run defense against a run-first City High team. But don't underestimate Senior. Only West, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Cedar Falls and City, all ranked teams, have been more impressive in the first half of the MVC season. Rams QB Austin Clemens has completed 68-of-110 passes for 802 yards. Senior's leading rusher is Alex Duster with 445 in 96 rushes (4.6 per carry). "Senior is good," West coach Brian Sauser said after having played Senior on Friday. "I think they are clearly the fifth-best team in the conference. They are alone there. It's a challenging week of practice because they run about everything under the sun." It's City's homecoming, and the atmosphere will be festive with one week until the Boot.

West High (5-0, 2-0) atDubuque Hempstead (0-5, 0-3)

? When: 7:15 p.m.

? Where: University of Dubuque.

? Radio: KXIC 800-AM.

? Last season: West 41, Hempstead 17.

? Summary: Hempstead was feisty and hard to shake last week against City High. The Little Hawks finally wore down the Mustangs in the second half. Hempstead had a lot of trouble running between the tackles and will have to show some kind of running game to have a chance to control the clock and keep West's offense off the field. The Mustangs likely will rely again on their passing attack, which was effective at times against City with Drew Wagner at the controls.

Alburnett (3-2, 2-1) atRegina (5-0, 3-0)

? When: 7 p.m.

? Where: Regina field.

? Radio: KCJJ 1630-AM.

? Last season: Did not play.

? Summary: Alburnett is a non-district foe from District 5. The Pirates won their Class 1A district a year ago before losing to West Branch in the playoff quarterfinals. The Pirates are coming off a big win over Maquoketa Valley and have victories over North Cedar and North Linn. Their district loss was to Clayton Ridge, 10-0, and they lost to Class A champion Lisbon 28-20 in non-district play. Alburnett looks like it will have trouble keeping up with the Regals' offense as the Pirates have produced 700 fewer yards through five games and have scored 15 TDs compared with 28 for Regina. This game is the calm before the storm with district co-leader Wilton on tap Oct. 5.

Solon (4-1, 2-0) atAnamosa (0-5, 0-3)

? When: 7:30 p.m.

? Where: Anamosa.

? Last season: Did not play.

? Summary: Anamosa, which was 2-7 a year ago, has losses to Monticello, Camanche, Marion, Maquoketa and Benton. The Raiders came closest to Benton last week, losing by a touchdown. Solon survived five turnovers to gut out a win over DeWitt Central on Friday. This is a chance for Solon to get healthy and work on some things before tougher competition comes along, namely Marion next week and Maquoketa the week after.

DeWitt Central (2-3, 2-1) atClear Creek Amana (3-2, 1-1)

? When: 7:30 p.m.

? Where: Clippers stadium.

? Radio: KGYM 106.3-FM.

? Last season: Did not play.

? Summary:Mike Miller's DeWitt Central team nearly beat Solon at Solon last week and demonstrated a punishing, physical ground game. That was just the sort of formula Solon used two weeks ago to beat the Clippers, so the key will be to see whether CCA has improved enough to take on a triple-option team at the line of scrimmage. This is a big district game because it appears five teams are fighting for the four playoff spots, including these two. Solon and Marion have a leg up on everyone else, but the other spots will come down to CCA, Maquoketa and DeWitt. DeWitt beat Maquoketa in the district opener. Neither of these teams has played Marion.

Mid-Prairie (4-1, 2-0) atColumbus (1-4, 1-2)

? When: 7:30 p.m.

? Where: Columbus Junction.

? Last season: Did not play.

? Summary: These teams were in different districts a year ago. The Golden Hawks, who are getting votes in the AP poll after four wins in a row, are coming off a really good victory at Tipton and should be too physical for the Wildcats. "We are kind of a running team, a grind-it-out team," coach Pete Cavanagh told KCII radio in discussing the importance of scoring early against Tipton. Tipton outgained Mid-Prairie. "It was a tough offense to defend and Tipton blocks really well," Cavanagh said. "Our guys hadn't been blocked like that all year. We bowed our neck there in the fourth quarter and made the plays when we needed to." Cavanagh said he'd like to see the offense show more consistency. It gets a lot tougher next week when No. 2 Mediapolis visits. Mid-Prairie and West Liberty appear to be fighting it out for second unless one of them can pull off a big upset of Mepo.

West Liberty (3-2, 3-0) at Mediapolis (5-0, 2-0)

? When: 7:30 p.m.

? Where: Mediapolis.

? Last season: Did not play.

? Summary: The Comets are coming off an outstanding defensive effort in shutting out Central Lee and holding it to 53 yards total offense. But Mediapolis is one of the best teams in the state and features K-State recruit Jesse Ertz at quarterback. He has completed 49-of-61 passes (.803) for 873 yards and 15 touchdowns with no interceptions. He leads the team in rushing with 434 yards on 34 rushes (12.7 per carry). Dalton Scott has rushed for an additional 311 yards. West Liberty, Mediapolis and Mid-Prairie are atop the district with unbeaten records. These two weeks will shake that out with Mepo playing West Liberty and Mid-Prairie in successive weeks, and the two area teams meeting in the final regular-season game.

West Branch (3-2, 1-2) at Sigourney-Keota (2-3, 1-1)

? When: 7 p.m.

? Where: Sigourney.

? Last season: Did not play.

? Summary: Sigourney was a 2A team a year ago. The Cobras are coming off a 20-point loss to ranked Pella Christian in a non-district game. Among their common foes is Wapello, which West Branch beat 42-7 last week and the Cobras defeated 50-44 in week 4. Both teams lost to Wilton, although the Bears were a lot closer on the scoreboard. Sigourney also lost to Pekin and beat winless Central Lee in non-district action. It appears that these two teams are fighting it out for third place in the district. The Bears will have to defend the Cobras' mid-century single-wing offense with its emphasis on deception and play assignment football. "They are very physical and very big," West Branch coach Butch Pedersen said. "What we need to do is put two games in a row together."

Winfield-Mount Union (0-5, 0-3) at Lone Tree (3-2, 3-0)

? When: 7 p.m.

? Where: Lone Tree.

? Last season: Lone Tree 54, WMU 0.

? Summary: This is the first of three out-manned foes the Lions will play before the showdown for the district title against defending champion Lisbon. The Lions just need to take care of business, get healthy and fine-tune things. Neither WMU, Danville nor New London will pose a threat to what is turning out to be another powerful season.

Highland (3-2, 2-1) atVan Buren (1-4, 1-2)

? When: 7 p.m.

? Where: Keosauqua.

? Last season: Highland 31, Van Buren 6.

? Summary: These teams were in the same 1A district a year ago. Van Buren's one victory this year was over winless New London last week. Expect the Huskies to bounce back with a vengeance in this one. The Huskies are in great position to finish second or third in the district and get into the playoffs. Their game with district co-leader Lisbon is in two weeks.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Tonight's prep football games

When: 7:15 p.m. Where: Bates Field. Last season: City 28, Senior 0. Summary: Senior lost its first game of the season, 42-7, to West High on Friday. Senior gave up 332 rushing yards and 456 total